Supreme Court orders status quo for Vedanta University project

New Delhi, Jan 28 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Friday ordered status quo in respect of land acquired or sought to be acquired for the proposed Vedanta University project at Puri in Orissa.

An apex court bench of Justices D K Jain and H L Dattu ordered status quo on the nature, character and possession of the land acquired or sought to be acquired.

The Vedanta University project following this order will continue to remain stalled.

The Orissa Government and the University had challenged the Orissa High Court decision in the apex court saying land acquisition procedures for the proposed Vedanta University project were illegal.

The High Court had directed Vedanta to return the land awarded to them to their owners.

At least two PILs and six individual petitions were filed in the High Court since 2007 challenging the state government"s notification on the land acquisition.

The petitioners had contended that the proposed multi-disciplinary university project would have caused extreme debilitating impact on the eco system as well as the local bio-diversity.

The petitioners had also questioned the status of the company saying that it was not properly formed as per the Companies Act.

The High Court had cited 17 issues and held that land acquisition procedure for Vedanta were illegal. (ANI)